Andrew McMahon Interview

On Sunday we interviewed Andrew McMahon, lead singer of the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Manniquin, at the Comcast Center while he was on tour with The Fray. Jeremy and I have always been a fan of Andrew's music, but this interview was for a cause a lot bigger. We spoke with him on his tour bus where he told his incredible story.

Andrew was born in Concord, Massachusetts. He spend several years in Mass before moving to New Jersey and then ultimatly California, where he now resides. On May 27th, 2005 Andrew was forced to cancel all of his upcoming shows. He was experiencing laryngitis and extreme fatigue and went to see his doctor in New York. After running tests, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the age of 22. During his battle with Leukemia, Andrew encouraged people to make donations to non profits that aided Leukemia research. Due to the overwelming support he recieved in coming months, what started as "In Leiu of Flowers" slowly progressed into the Dear Jack Foundation.

It's been four years since Andrew's diagnoses. Since then the foundation has done great things. Andrew takes pride in the Dear Jack Team as part of the annual Light the Night Walks for Leukemia and Lyphomia Society. Last year the Dear Jack Team raised $100,000 for the Leukemia nad Lyphomia Society.

As most of you know our last fundraiser was for the Dear Jack Foundation. I told Andrew about our fundraiser and how supportive our friends are to our film and to our fundraisers. He was truely honored when we told him that thanks to your support we raised $1,000 dollars to his foundation. Thanks again everyone.

A little bit about Andrew McMahon

On Sunday we held our interview with Andrew McMahon at the Comcast Center. I'm looking forward to posting all about it tomorrow, until then I wanted to show everyone two trailers to Andrew's documentary that will be coming out this September.

Charity Bowl for Dear Jack

Last Wednesday we held our annual charity bowl for the Dear Jack Foundation (to benefit Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). Twenty Five people competed for the coveted golden pin at Kings in Boston, but in the end in was Chris Dineen who was victorious. It was really a special night because of the turn out with such late notice. Some of you may know the Charity Bowl is an annual tradition, but this year we put it together quickly in order to surprise our next interviewee, Andrew McMahon.

Andrew McMahon is the lead singer of the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin. If you haven't heard his music, you really need to. In 2005 when Andrew set out for his first world tour with Jack's Mannequin, he was blindsided with the news that he had Acute Lymphatic Leukemia. In July of 2006 he started the Dear Jack Foundation to raise funds for cancer research. The main beneficiaries of the Dear Jack Foundation are the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, and the Regents of the University of California. Andrew is an inspiration to our generation and to thank him for taking the time to speak with us while he's on tour with The Fray, we wanted to do something special. Our fundraiser raised 1,000 dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We'll post all the details about our interview with Andrew at the end of June. Thanks so much for everyone that came to the fundraiser, your support at these events and for the film make this project possible.